Database (Oxford) 2014 30;2014. Epub 2014 Jun 30.
National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, P.O. Box 85167, 3508 AD Utrecht, The Netherlands, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences - Microbiology, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy, Molecular Mycology Research Laboratory, Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Sydney Medical School-Westmead Hospital, The University of Sydney, Westmead Millennium Institute, Westmead, Australia, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37920, USA, Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA, Mycology Section, Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3DS, UK, Natural History Museum, University of Tartu, 46 Vanemuise, 51014 Tartu, Estonia, Purdue University, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, 915 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA, Institute of Excellence in Fungal Research, and School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand, Imperial College London, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew TW9 3DS, England, UK, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Dépt. Systématique et Evolution CP39, UMR7205, 12 Rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, P. R. China, Departamento de Biología Vegetal II, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain, Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz, PF 300 154, 02806 Görlitz, Germany, Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Forestry Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa, Real Jardín Botánico, RJB-CSIC,
DNA phylogenetic comparisons have shown that morphology-based species recognition often underestimates fungal diversity. Therefore, the need for accurate DNA sequence data, tied to both correct taxonomic names and clearly annotated specimen data, has never been greater. Furthermore, the growing number of molecular ecology and microbiome projects using high-throughput sequencing require fast and effective methods for en masse species assignments. In this article, we focus on selecting and re-annotating a set of marker reference sequences that represent each currently accepted order of Fungi. The particular focus is on sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region in the nuclear ribosomal cistron, derived from type specimens and/or ex-type cultures. Re-annotated and verified sequences were deposited in a curated public database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), namely the RefSeq Targeted Loci (RTL) database, and will be visible during routine sequence similarity searches with NR_prefixed accession numbers. A set of standards and protocols is proposed to improve the data quality of new sequences, and we suggest how type and other reference sequences can be used to improve identification of Fungi. Database URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA177353.